Video content can be distributed from a provider or publisher as video on demand (VOD), time-shifted television, live television, media such as a digital video disc (DVD), motion pictures distributed to theaters as digital video signals, and as electronic content distributed to computing devices. Video content can be broadcast over the air as digital signals, transmitted via satellite, and streamed, downloaded, and uploaded via communications networks such as the Internet.
Given the broad distribution of such video content and growing proliferation of viewing and playback devices for viewing such video content, publishers and distributors of video content often need to know how video environments, infrastructures, and video experiences are behaving in order to take needed actions in the shortest time interval. For example, publishers need real-time information in order to take actions to alter a quality of service (QoS) for video content as it is being viewed. Also, in the context of video advertising, publishers often need information regarding current use of video content to take actions related to a monetization approach or advertising strategy for the video content.
Current solutions for video tracking, such, the Quality of Experience (QoE) service from Conviva, a content delivery network (CDN) service from Akamai®, Inc., and analytics services from Google, Inc., either do not provide real-time video tracking or are limited as to the type of information and events that are tracked. These prior solutions do not address both quality of service and monetization. Traditional video-tracking techniques address quality of service and monetization using separate systems, interfaces, and software products. These prior solutions do not provide an all-inclusive solution for real-time tracking of playback of video content.